Basic Page #3

Synopsis: During a special operations training mission in Panama, four U.S. soldiers are killed mysteriously, and their leader, Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson), goes missing. A military investigator, Capt. Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen), has trouble convincing the two survivors to talk about what happened that night. A more experienced investigator, Tom Hardy (John Travolta), is brought in to crack the case. However, when the survivors do start talking, their stories differ from one another.
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama
Production: Sony Pictures Entertainment
  3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.5
Metacritic:
34
Rotten Tomatoes:
21%
R
Year:
2003
98 min
$26,536,120
Website
1,029 Views


Osborne nods, agreeing.

HARDY:

I didn't mean that as a compliment.

OSBORNE:

Sergeant West's served for twenty-

Three years. He's the public face

of the modern Army.

HARDY:

And you notice I'm not in the Army

anymore.

They round a corner.

STYLES:

The exercise was one of his Section

Eight "private sessions". Left around

2100 yesterday and were scheduled

for pick up at 0630 this morning.

HARDY:

And the problem is you only got three.

STYLES:

No, the problem is one's dead, one's

got a bullet in his arm, and one

won't talk. The one who won't talk

was trading live fire with the dead

one as we reached the pick-up.

HARDY:

I'm assuming that's what made him

the dead one?

STYLES:

Cadet Roberto R. Nunez. Killed right

in front of me.

OSBORNE:

Search parties for the others are

fanning out in a ten click radius

from the pickup. If they're hurt

and we can get to them in time...

8.

STYLES:

I called the JAG Corps, the two cadets

we retrieved are to be flown to D.C.

On a transport leaving here at 1700

HARDY:

Which gives us about five hours.

Why'd you call me?

STYLES:

The guy in interrogation said he'd

only talk to a cop.

HARDY:

And I'm the closest thing to it,

right?

Styles stops, turning to his friend.

STYLES:

Tom, bottom line: I let those kids

go out there. If JAG shows up and I

don't have any answers for them, my

career is finished-

HARDY:

I'm not gonna let that happen.

Styles exhales, relieved.

STYLES:

Thank you. Osborne will brief you

on the cadets. And Tom?

(half-smile)

It really is good to see you.

INT. FORT MCKINLEY -- OSBORNE'S OFFICE -- MORNING

Osborne and Hardy enter, stepping over broken glass and

hurricane debris. Hardy looks around.

HARDY:

Gotta be honest, I love what you've

Done with the place-

OSBORNE:

You and the Colonel go back.

HARDY:

He got me through Basic and a lot of

other stuff. I owe him.

OSBORNE:

You're the Tom Hardy I've been reading

about in the papers, right? New

Orleans PD fired you for taking bribes

from Guissepe Torres.

9.

HARDY:

It was for suspicion of bribery,

it's really all in the wording-

OSBORNE:

Wording and your friendship with the

Colonel aside, I'm not comfortable

having you involved in this.

HARDY:

Subtlety really isn't one of you

finer points, is it, Osborne?

Osborne opens her mouth to reply but Hardy cuts her off.

HARDY:

Three things. First - You don't

have a choice. Second- I've never

taken a bribe in my life. And Third I'm

still a little drunk from last

night, so if I skip over the witty

banter and move forward to straight

hitting on you, try not to take

offense. Tell me about the two guys.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

James Vanderbilt

James Platten Vanderbilt (born November 1975) is an American screenwriter. He is best known for the films Zodiac, White House Down, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. more…

All James Vanderbilt scripts | James Vanderbilt Scripts

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Submitted by aviv on November 01, 2016

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